Scientists: Red snapper recovering in Gulf

NEW ORLEANS — Fishermen are reeling in bigger and more mature red snapper — a sign that the overfished species is beginning to recover and tight regulations can be relaxed a bit, according to a new analysis.

Based on results of this year’s annual survey of red snapper, released

Wednesday in New Orleans, a panel of scientists recommended allowing fishermen

to catch more of the fish starting next year. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery

Management Council, which sets fishing limits, will vote on the recommendation

in February.

Roy Crabtree, the regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries

Service, said the assessment showed that overfishing has ended, but not that

“red snapper has been rebuilt or recovered.”

He said fishermen could expect quotas and catch limits on red snapper to be

increased.

The “findings show indications that some recovery has occurred in the red

snapper population,” said Chris Dorsett, a conservation expert with the Ocean

Conservancy, a national marine advocacy group.

He added: “This is great news for the Gulf environment and the economy.”

Glen Brooks, the Cortez, Fla.-based president of the Gulf Fishermen’s

Association, said it was common knowledge among fishermen that red snapper were

making a comeback.

“We believe the population is real healthy. The fishermen see things a couple

of years before the scientists see it with their model assessments,” Brooks

said. “On the west coast of Florida, if you caught two, three snapper a trip, it

was pretty good. Now, you can load a boat up with the suckers. They have

definitely come back pretty strong.”

Not everyone agrees.

James Cowan, a fisheries oceanographer at Louisiana State University, warned

that the recent data likely reflected a temporary rebound. He said the

scientific panel based its recommendations on “the least conservative” model

runs. Cowan sits on the advisory panel and voted against increasing catch

limits.

“We’re still killing the young too quickly. We need the fish to live long